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create the graphic to be as big as the cell will be. I do all my backgrounds this way. The negative part is that on really big graphics, image size can get quite large. Still working through this myself, though...

Originally posted by Sketch create the graphic to be as big as the cell will be. I do all my backgrounds this way. The negative part is that on really big graphics, image size can get quite large. Still working through this myself, though...

Sketch

wouldn't this cause a problem if the cell or table are set to 100% width. how would you know how big the graphics are on other computers.

yeah, it could. guess it depends on what the graphic is. I usually design my page backgrounds to fit at 1200x1024. Also, scripting could be used to determine display size and based on display size, have the bg set at diff sizes.

If you're hellbent on using liquid tables (i.e. percentages), use them on an outside table. Then, within that, use another table, only this time make it absolute by using pixels, the exact same dimensions as the image. That will stop your cross-browser/resolution compatibility problem while still giving you the background effect you're looking for. =)

Colin Anderson Ambition is a poor excuse for those withoutsense enough to be lazy.

There is a bug with netscape when you apply an image as a table background - it will be repeated in each table cell, rather than over the whole table.
The trick to get it to work in Netscape as well as IE is to make a one cell table with the background image, then within that table make your many cell table, *but* put a 1x1 transparent gif image as the background image of the nested table. It's a strange work around, but it will then display correctly.